Aged-care handout won’t stop the worker exodus, say bosses and unions

Scott Morrison’s move to ease pressure on his government’s record in aged care during Covid with a one-off payment to workers wins few backers.

Labor MP Clare O'Neil. Picture: AAP

A bonus payment of up to $800 for aged-care workers to encourage them to stay in the sector was “grossly inadequate” given the enormous strain they were under to manage Covid outbreaks, ­employers and unions have warned.

Scott Morrison on Tuesday ­announced a bonus of up to $800 – made in two instalments and pro rata according to hours worked – to workers in nursing homes and government-subsidised home care, saying such a retention payment had been successful in the past.

“We know it works,” the Prime Minister told the National Press Club. “We’re … helping the aged-care providers give that support to aged-care workers during this pandemic to be able to keep them working. We know it was effective last time and we believe it will be effective again.”

But providers and the unions representing care workers said significantly more than a one-off payment was needed for “overwhelmed aged-care workers”.

“The … two pro rata payments of up to $400 is grossly inadequate and it remains to be seen how this short-term payment will prevent a feared exodus of staff from the frontline,” said a joint statement from organisations including the ACTU, the Health Services Union, Leading Age Services Australia and Aged and Community Services Australia. The groups called on the federal government, which is responsible for funding and regulating aged care, to provide “an ongoing Covid-19 payment to be paid on each shift”.

“Aged-care staff are exhausted and burnt out, with many working for days around the clock. Resignations due to fatigue and feeling undervalued continue to devastate the sector,” they said.

Department of Health figures released last week revealed almost half of all nursing homes in Australia, about 2700, were managing a Covid outbreak.

Staff shortages have meant many workers are doing double shifts and spending long periods in full personal protective clothing, the unions say. A survey by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Association found one in five workers were having to buy their own rapid antigen tests to ensure they are Covid-free.

Almost 400 nursing home residents have died of Covid across the nation this year alone.

Mr Morrison said six in 10 of those who died with Covid were in end-of-life care, with the balance having serious health issues.

But Labor’s spokesman on aged-care services, Clare O’Neil, said the government appeared to have forgotten the aged-care royal commission’s message that just because people are elderly doesn’t mean their lives are worth less. “This is the ethic you are starting to hear from the government and it really shocks me,” Ms O’Neil said.